The workplace has been neglected in the ever-expanding literature on the effect of ethnic diversity in social contexts on generalized social trust. Nevertheless, in the workplace individuals are continuously exposed to people of different ethnic backgrounds. In this paper the authors analyze the effect of workplace diversity on trust, using both surveys and administrative data from public registers on workplaces in Denmark. Consistent with theories positing negative effects of interethnic exposure, they find a negative effect of ethnic diversity in the workplace on social trust, an effect that is independent from the impact of diversity in residential settings.

Peter Thisted Dinesen, University of Copenhagen
Kim Mannemar Sønderskov, Aarhus University